Fat Freddy

Happy Easter from SA!!!!

2007-04-11T10:53:00.001+01:00

Thanks to Clara for making this!!

Botham Wisdom

2007-03-12T12:11:00.000Z

"form is temporary, but class is permanent"

HOLIDAY!!!!

2006-11-18T01:36:00.000Z

OK so after a great, but hectic, week exhibiting at a trade show I sooooo need a holiday. Good job I have 10 days in Coron, Philippines coming up. Aiming to stay here for a week then head for 4 days in HK...

Photos coming soon!

Returned to Singapore

2006-11-11T03:37:00.000Z

Mixed feelings about being back in Singapore. But the FT ponders whether we all really are becoming more Singaporean...

Underground fun

2006-11-05T14:53:00.000Z

What a great transport network London has...

The Man on the Moon

2006-09-13T16:07:00.000+01:00

Sunday evening and a bit of sci-fi culture meets reality when a talk at the Roundhouse saw a talk by Alan Bean the 4th man on the moon while lunar module pilot on Apollo 12 as well as being the commander on the 2nd skylab mission.

He was an enthusiastic and positive speaker with a true lust for life which he said was instilled in him by seeing the fragility and uniqueness of the Earth from the Moon in contrast to the Universe:

"Earth is the garden of Eden. I'm living in the Garden"

He was very definite about space exploration continuiing and the installation of moon bases:

"someday people will build cities up there"

He was very positive about George W. Bush's Mars exploration programme but he wondered about the harshness of such a long trip to reach Mars:

"6 months in space is like living in a coal mine, but the view is better"

The Moon landings obviously had a very significant effect on Alan Bean and he has devoted himself to painting his experiences. The art he works on is imbued with moon dust, and etched with the tools and moonboots that he took to the moon so his paintings carry some of his experience with them...

He tried to instill a sense of ambition, purpose and drive in us all. When talking about the laws of the Universe and how it is controlled by the laws of physics and therefore quite predictable, he said the only things that were not predictable were us and therefore:

"the only thing that limits us is ourselves"

The talk and q&a session was chaired by the charismatic and informed Andrew Smith who interviewed every man to have walked on the moon for his book Moondust. Have to pick that one up soon...

Horse Riding!!!

2006-09-10T15:56:00.000+01:00

Ok so it was one of those evenings that saw the end of the summer sunshine. Me and the 'zone were taken outside the M25 and placed on some horses in a attempt to learn to ride.

Riding through the forest with the sun streaming through the leaves it was beautiful. I took to riding ok. Even managed to trott quite well after a few attempts.

The zone was having trouble finding his horses 2nd gear which was even more annoying as the others seem naturals.

Well we were then introduced to the joys of polo. I was having enough trouble with the horse to worry about hitting a ball. Thankfully the evening sun departed and our bruises and aches were left alone. Nothing a few beers didn't solve...

Brazil v. Argentina

2006-09-04T08:19:00.000+01:00

So having survived (just) a weekend of battering myself through a combination of playing football, surfing/drowning and drinking I dragged my sorry self to see Brazil v. Argentina at the Ashburton Grove (Emirates) stadium.

A great samba atmosphere and some beautiful football. Kaka's amazing solo effort capped off a humiliating afternoon for the Argentinians.

Had some great pitch side seats and since Ronaldinho was injured he was sat just 2m in front of us!

Arsenal were represented by Gilberto, the only Brazilian who cannot pass but still looked solid, and new signing Julio Baptista. Baptista looks a huge guy and could be just the kind of muscle Arsenal have been missing of late... too-many-winger syndrome still seems to persist at Highbury.

West Ham's new signings Tevez and Mascherano played for Argentina. Mascherano looks like not much but Tevez was Argentina's player most likely to score. Looks like he has a temper on him too so could be interesting at Upton Park this year.

All in all was a great afternoon but I have to say it was nothing on the usual skill on show. I mean Brazil - Argentina has nothing on next weeks big glamour tie of Arsenal against Middlesboro... errr...

Wasted Little DJs

2006-08-30T09:31:00.000+01:00

Ok so the 'zone bought some last minute tickets to see The Vines at the Kentish Town Forum. They were their predictable OzRock-selves. Kinda fun.

But the big thing was the support act, The View. They are cool in a modern Scottish Monkeys kind of way, although couldn't understand a word of Dundonian through the mic. Indie Pop-Rock with a definite few good feel good rocky songs in there... Wasted Little DJs is just a great tune! Why the f*ck is Lil' Allen the song to the summer??? Travesty...

Serbian cuisine

2006-07-12T13:38:00.000+01:00

OK so its all meat and cheese, or meat and meat, or even cheese and meat. Pretty tasty though. Fat boy approves of the high-cholesterol count of the Burek that was lunch. Especially washed down with some Jovanovic approved yoghurt...

Surviving Serbia

2006-07-11T16:06:00.000+01:00

OK so I made it safely out of the EXIT jungle intact but thoroughly exhausted. 8pm - 5am every day/night. Some great bands. Some way cool Serbian folk/DnB....

Am still held captive in Belgrade. Photos to follow. Escape imminent...

Coffee - The Liver Defender

2006-06-13T11:33:00.000+01:00

OK so it seems like a good thing that Singapore has driven me into a coffee habit. Cos apparently is saving my liver from the alcohol burden.

The guys at TCC will be glad that I won't be giving up my daily visits to their premises anytime soon...

Beer Belly

2006-06-13T05:34:00.000+01:00

So I know that after a night out my belly is full of beer.

But imagine if you could use your belly to store the beer you are about to drink.

Confused? Then check out this piece of genius...
http://www.thebeerbelly.com/

Yogyakarta

2006-04-20T07:21:00.000+01:00

Moon rising over Borobudur Temple
Originally uploaded by daveysarge.

So a weekend away took me to Indonesia for the first time (country #35).

Yogyakarta was a bustling city and an interesting mix of local chaos and tourist traps. However the temple complexes around the city were amazing. Check out that gorgeous photo of the moon over Borobudur... Borobudur is apparently the biggest Buddhist site in the world and it was huge and truly stunning at sunrise.

View of Parambanan Temples
Originally uploaded by daveysarge.

Then we managed to find time to check out the rival Hindu temple complex at Parambanan. Huge towers dedicated to the various Hindu deities.

Both temple complexes were built in the 8th century. Who had local bragging rights its hard to say, but 8th century temple builders were obviously overworked!

Singapore Idol

2006-04-18T10:59:00.000+01:00

Boyband Dave
Originally uploaded by island_girl.

OK its true. Talent spotted last week in K-Box I am available for weddings, christenings and barmitzvahs..

Singapore Sevens

2006-04-13T09:13:00.000+01:00

Ah Singapore... the home of Rugby.... ?! Well any old excuse to watch sport and get drunk in the sun. So much fun was had watching England stutter along in the Singapore Sevens. A day of booze, friends, rugby and music.

It all led to some amusing antics including drunkenly doing the YMCA in various locations around Singapore (of which videos exist but remain hidden to protect the innocent).

Although we did never make it back to the 2nd day to watch the serious rugby... :-s

Borneo and Monkeys

2006-04-05T06:12:00.000+01:00

Baby Orang Utan
Originally uploaded by daveysarge.

So a week spent away in Borneo was full of wildlife. Spotted four types of wild monkeys (Orang Utans, Pig and long tailed macaques as well as the crazy looking proboscis monkeys). Check out my flickr site for more monkey pictures.

Social Networking

2006-02-17T10:06:00.000Z

Ok so Fraudster, MySpaceMyArse and all those other gimmicky sites do nothing for me that a blog site doesn't.

Until the puzzster pointed me to Last.FM - Now everyone can see what dubious musical taste I have...

Places I have been...

2006-02-01T13:18:00.000Z

I thought I was well travelled but when you look at it like this it doesn't seem I have seen much of the world at all... They don't seperate Macau and Hong Kong from China but I don't think I can lay claim to China yet.

Although looks a bit better from a Western European perspective... Need to check out more of Eastern Europe. Who wants to go to Russia, Estonia and Finland? ;-)

Not so expensive London

2006-02-01T11:14:00.000Z

Well it seems I shouldn't be whinging so much about London being so expensive. Only 7th most expensive place. No sign of Singapore :-)

Most expensive cities
(Last year in brackets)

1 (3) Oslo
2 (1) Tokyo
3 (8) Reykjavik
4 (2) Osaka Kobe
4 (4) Paris
6 (5) Copenhagen
7 (7) London
8 (6) Zurich
9 (8) Geneva
10 (10) Helsinki

From: The Guardian

Survived Switzerland!

2006-01-31T17:00:00.000Z

So three days of skiing and drinking. So much fun but so tiring. Great snow, not too crazy slopes and the odd baileys coffee saw my skiing improve markedly. Muscles ache today but trying how to get one more weekend of snow in before heading back to the equator... any ideas?

Gone Skiing

2006-01-26T15:01:00.000Z

Off to Flims in Switzerland for a weekend of falling over. Back Monday!

(photo from decembers skiing in val)

Blogs from 44,000ft above sea level

2006-01-20T16:19:00.000Z

OK so this is pretty cool. Free internet trial on Singapore airlines. Connexion by Boeing. Currently somewhere between Singapore and London... Not sure I would pay for this though.

Not sure which timezone and pretty knackered and 100 crap films to watch so going to keep this short.

Just wanted to say hi. Missing you all in Singapore x. Looking forward to seeing you all in London :-)

Distribution of Sargeants

2006-01-19T02:17:00.000Z

Seems Spatial Literacy has proven my Dad right that all the Sarges are descended from the Angles. Seems we are all mostly in East Anglia and Kent. However the 1881 census seems devoid of Sarges at all. What does that indicate?

Asian gambling

2006-01-18T03:58:00.000Z

OK so it finally dawned on me that I better get involved in some gambling while over here. Previously had very unsuccessfully dabbled in the horses, including big losses at the SIA Cup. Time to learn some real Asian style games...

So one fine Singapore evening over a tasty HDB-dinner I was taught the rules of Pai Gow, Chua Die Di, and a great game that would sit tastily alongside Shoot the Pot in a pub scenario. (The faces of the not-so-innocent have been blurred to obscure their guilt).

And then at the weekend I was introduced to Singapore style Mah-Jong. Not only did I have to learn the rules but also the Chinese characters for 1-10 and the winds. I must say I had a good teacher (even though she kept distracting me so I kept missing my 'Pongs'). By the end of the lessons I was $3.40 and even won a game all on my own!

So with success riding smugly it is probably a good job Singapore does not have a casino yet to lose all my winnings in....

Singapore... Yay!

2006-01-14T02:52:00.000Z

So arrived in Singapore to the delight of Dim Sum from the cute one. Then she only went and packed me off to 90mins of pure pleasure of a Chinese massage. Getting beaten up by a small Chinese woman doesn't sound relaxing but it was the perfect way to get over the jet lag. I am getting worse and worse at dealing with the dreaded lag but that was one fine way of getting over it :-)

End of day 2 and already get a days holiday. Can't be bad. So Andy invited us along to his first foray into club organising Broken Temple. Some teething problems but had a very nice evening. Am sure the next one will really kick off...

Onwards and upwards!

2006 - The Travel Begins

2006-01-07T06:46:00.000Z

So am off to Singapore today. Gonna be a mix of hard work and fun social activities.

Am very excited because a certain someone is taking me for Char Siew Bao within about an hour of me landing...

A hot and humid couple of weeks before heading back to Europe for some Swiss skiing...

Merry Xmas

2005-12-26T10:17:00.000Z

Hope you all survived xmas! Had a great time with too much food. And all our great January plans for detox and exercise look conveniently derailed by the weather:
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2459852005

London Dim Sum

2005-11-22T15:50:00.000Z

OK stole this from flavourpill... Who is up for some Dim Sum London style? Am sure not a touch on Singapore but been too long since I Char Siew Bao'd...

---------

A hot pot of jasmine tea is slapped down on the slightly stained table cloth. The waitress rolls her eyes as you try, and fail, to order your char sui bau with an authentic Cantonese accent. People are murmuring happily and the tinkle of plastic chopsticks against porcelain rings through the air. Must be Sunday, around noon, otherwise known as pork bun 'o clock. London's holy triumvirate of dim sum is not, as you might expect, in Chinatown, but in Dalston (Shanghai), Bayswater (Royal China) and (dare we say it?) Soho (Yauatcha). Always keep the menu handy in case you find some room in a third stomach for one last morsel, and remember that for dim sum, the magic number of companions is divisible by three. (NT)

Shanghai (41 Kingsland High Street, E8, 020.7254.2878)
Royal China (13 Queensway, W2, 020.7221.2535)
Yauatcha (15-17 Broadwick Street, W1, 020.7494.8888)

Power to the "Little People"

2005-11-22T14:55:00.000Z

Not often you hear about little people getting in the way of development work... But apparently a bunch of fairies cost this guy £15,000...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,170-1881612,00.html

Scotch Whisky

2005-10-24T21:18:00.000+01:00

P1000315
Originally uploaded by daveysarge.

So when celebrating at a very cool wedding you have to drink the bar dry... Unfortunately just the whisky selection at the hotel bar beat us. Didn't stop us trying though ;-)

Birmingham Japanese

2005-10-21T11:53:00.000+01:00

Well after a hard day of selling software to the good folks of Birmingham you gotta go for a bit of food. And everyone knows Birmingham is famous for its Indian and Pakistani food so where better to indulge than at a... errr... Japanese restaurant?!

Even Fat Boy Freddie was beaten by 8 courses of just about everything. Not too sure about some of my colleagues cooking abilities though... Don't ever ask an office manager to crack an egg. At least Mr.West Ham enjoyed his impromptu birthday celebrations (not that it was anything like his birthday).

Next stop Aberdeen...

The Pacific trawler...

2005-10-18T12:58:00.000+01:00

Doesn't look like such a tough life to me!?!?

:-)

English Ice Hockey

2005-10-17T16:23:00.000+01:00

Yes you heard right! The latest incarnation of the English Ice Hockey League this time called the Elite Ice Hockey League sees another new London team arising from the ashes of all the old ones. The London Racers are playing in a dinky little stadium in North London nicknamed the Bike Shed. Feels like more of an aircraft hanger...

Last nights encounter saw the racers take on the much better Sheffield Steelers. I am not sure how they hung on until overtime. But it was a Sheffield own goal with 20seconds of overtime left (if they have own goals in hockey?) that sealed the win.

The thrilling encounter took place in front of a couple dozen people and a pet dog. Oh and I was there. Look see -> thats me! But it was fun and I think Tom might have to drag a few more of us down next time...

Belgrade Rocks!

2005-10-17T11:44:00.000+01:00

see I told you so...

NY Times agrees with me that Belgrade is cool

The end of the sunshine

2005-10-11T16:28:00.000+01:00

OK so I haven't blogged much recently. Must have been having too much fun or something?? But the weather forecasters tell me today is the last of the nice warm sunshine and winter is fast approaching.

So dust off your rain jackets and start polishing your ski boots cos winter is almost here :-)

Blog my RSS

2005-09-23T03:08:00.000+01:00

Now you can view my blog via your RSS reader: http://feeds.feedburner.com/FatFreddy

Makan Shops, Singapore

2005-09-19T07:24:00.000+01:00

Well am back in Singapore... Is nice to be back for a few reasons. One of them has to be the food! Off to Thomson for some nice curry...

So not sure why prata has suddenly become 'Singapore's answer to the Croissant'. Unless they mean you have it for breakfast?

Well as you can see the curry and murtabak went down pretty well.

Then headed for special mid-autumn moon festival celebrations... Awesome evening. Shame it was too dark for those photos to come out properly. Will see if I can photoshop something up later...

Medieval streets

2005-09-12T07:22:00.000+01:00

DSC03725
Originally uploaded by daveysarge.

So we interrupt this busy travelling schedule to spend a nice weekend amongst the medieval streets of St. Antonin in France.

Deep breath and relax...

serbia...

2005-09-11T23:24:00.000+01:00

ok so blog catch up time. have been travelling around a bit. last week was in belgrade. eating, drinking and working. lots of meat i can't prononounce and lots of beer... belgrade has its own unique style.

but it still has 1970s-style hotels. i swore i would see one of the staff there smile by the end of the week... maybe next time...

My Dad's Bruce Lee

2005-09-02T10:32:00.000+01:00

OK a day when the news is full of devastation I think it's worth a look at this happy little movie. The lyrics are great:
"I'm Luke, I'm five and my dad's Bruce Lee and he drives me around in his JCB"

Meanwhile Fatboy is doing another world tour this month hopefully:
Serbia -> France -> UK -> Singapore -> UK -> Toulouse

See you in the Bridge House next month... Or maybe in Chijmes this month? :-)

The way we speak

2005-08-22T19:07:00.000+01:00

Listen to how people all over the UK sound...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/

Amazing diversity!

Phone-Tography

2005-08-17T08:15:00.000+01:00

OK so trying a new photo-only blog in parallel to this one. See Phone-Tography for:

Tube Journeys

Close Encounters

Walking at Night

What do you think? Does it work? Not such greath quality cos they are all taken with my phone!

Technosaturation

2005-08-14T18:24:00.000+01:00

Just read this post on Wired about immersive technological culture and how hard it is to disappear from tech radars. No mobile, no IM, no email... Sometimes you have to ignore it all just for your sanity?

Friends at pick me up couldn't live without their mobiles and tried to find their friends in London without them. Impossible?

Hmmm... I have to use IM, email and mobiles for work. But maybe it would be quite therapeutic just to turn it all off sometime. Anyone else want to try?

ThorpingtonBridge

2005-08-04T08:59:00.000+01:00

Well it had to happen eventually. The calling of the Bridge is just too much. Thorpington's leaving do was infused with beer and gambling.

So after a miserable attempt to play electronic horse racing we settled instead on playing 'Shoot the pot'. Well when the pot was £30 and then Nicky only shows me the 2 of diamonds. I had to go for it. Well at least she bought us all champagne with her winnings... which might explain this mornings headache?

BBQ Summer

2005-08-03T08:12:00.000+01:00

So I am in London to catch the tail end of summer. It's still warm here, well kind of, but at least it's not raining.

With that in mind my Sister took it upon herself to invite us round for a BBQ. Luckily she goes out with an Australian and everyone knows they have BBQ-Sauce instead of blood. Cue arrival of delicious pepper steaks!

Fat freddy is once again full of food and content...!

English Breakfast

2005-08-02T03:57:00.000+01:00

So getting back to London I am already back in the fitness thing.... Fat boy style! Working hard all day means you need to start off with a decent breakfast. I could have attacked the Kaya in the fridge but I just couldn't resist.

Hmm... Maybe I need to start running. Where is my inspiration?

Ah beer...

2005-07-31T10:55:00.000+01:00

Well how could I come back to London without a visit to the Grand Union. Not made it to the Bridge yet but am sure the BSQ boys will drag me down there next week...

Driving around London

2005-07-30T03:50:00.000+01:00

So am back in London. Seems strange to be home.

Spent my day driving from airport to airport. Heathrow to Gatwick then home. Then managed to find time for a quick trip to Stanstead.

I must be drawn to airports. I obviously have a sub-concious urge to get back out to Asia...

Tuesday Morning Blues

2005-07-26T03:17:00.000+01:00

Having eaten too much great food (again) , and indulged in an orgy of wine tasting last night courtesy of the lovely people of MakanSutra, sitting at work on a Tuesday morning seems a chore.

Although last night I did discover the sickly sweet delights of a Milo Dinosaur which only redeeming feature can be the increased work load for Singapore's dentists. Teh Halia (Ginger Tea) was pretty good too and am stuffed full of prata, prata telor, beehoon goreng, curry mutton and chicken, indian rojak and topped off with paper prata. I need to go marathon running to work this lot off...

Am stuck halfway between Singapore and London. Am heading back tomorrow but Singapore has grown on me. I will miss my friends here... Not sure if work is sending me back so unsure if it is 'au revoir' or 'a bientôt'.

So as databases crash around me I might as well indulge in some spiritual wistfullness courtesy of Sufjan Stevens. Good name. Nice tunes.

Pedal Ubin!

2005-07-25T07:47:00.000+01:00

OK so its a Saturday morning. Have worked a 60 hour week. Most weekends Fat Freddy would be sleeping throughout the day until its time to go drinking. Not this weekend. Instead he decided to go on the fantastic Pedal Ubin ecologytrip-cum-biketour and wake up at 6.30am!

On the bumboat ride across to Ubin island it seems I wasn't the only one who was awake early...

Good exercise (have you tried cycling in this humidity?) and fascinating stories. Educational fitness. Its the new bio-cool!

Never realised the importance of wild jungle and mangrove in sustaining an eco-balance and diversity and helping protect the coastline against tsunami and such like. Also bumped into some crazy big-ass spiders. And all on a Saturday morning!

You can even see Malaysia from the beach (look through the trees - Yeah thats Malaysia!). So they put up some huge big fence in the water to stop people just swimming into Singapore. Any environmental impact? Lets think about it after we build it... doh!

Lots of pit stops are essential when you are an unfit european who is not made for this heat...

Gorgeous scenery!

Visit the Pedal Ubin website and sign up now!

Serbs and their Meat

2005-07-22T09:19:00.000+01:00

It was a New Year trip to Belgrade where I discovered the Serbian obsession with meat. The Hungarians have it too, but Serbia must be the only country where salad can be made of steak.... 90% steak... You should see the faces of my Serbian colleagues when presented with a bowl of noodles. Its like "where's the beef fat boy?".

I am not complaining though. Nothing wrong with lots of protein. Except after a week spent in Serbia and Hungary I had a strange craving for Brocolli...

In fact it was only today that the Big M sent me a link to a Serbian food festival. Well when I say food I mean meat...
Lots and lots of meat...

Goh Loo Club

2005-07-21T10:37:00.000+01:00

Goh Loo Club
Originally uploaded by daveysarge.

Can't resist posting this one.

Do they have the best toilets in Singapore?

don't blog me before i blog you...

2005-07-20T10:24:00.000+01:00

don't blog me before i blog you...
Originally uploaded by daveysarge.

On the streets of Singapore it's a tough fight to make sure you blog before you are blogged...

Rumours abound of associates committing blogicide as a result.

Burning calories...

2005-07-20T05:36:00.000+01:00

Well I finally got my fat ass off the seat and went running in the humidity of Singapore with a bit of persuasion.

Trouble was after burning off all those calories we were starving. Check out how much food you can buy in Singapore for £6. No wonder I am so hefty...

Time for some daily fitness? Nice idea. Lets see what happens...

Singapore Style: Mah Jong

2005-07-20T05:15:00.000+01:00

Ok so another thing that you must do in Singapore is to play Singapore style Mah-Jong.

After a quick lesson I am ok with the basics. Now just need to learn the subtleties so I can win some money from the Hakka girls...

Wednesday sounds...

2005-07-20T03:02:00.000+01:00

Ok so my morning mailbox was stuffed full of musical reminders.

Music Hurts seems like a good read for the morning. Nice new ezine with lots of music links. Found Akoustik Anarkhy as a result. Not bad.

And that made me plunge back into Better Propaganda, download the Crack MC playlist and remind me how great music is - Da BeatMinerz are on loop as a result.

My sister keeps talking about The Magic Numbers so I am off there to take a look...

Anyone else got any Wednesday morning recommendations?

The management

2005-07-20T00:32:00.000+01:00

.

Why does this seem so familiar?

That's why things like this happen.

Dim Sum!

2005-07-19T10:00:00.000+01:00

Dim Sum!
Originally uploaded by daveysarge.

Ok so the food is Singapore is fantastic.

For the price of a dirty burger in the UK you can get all sorts.

I mean everyone loves Red Star dim sum and char siew bao (pictured) is just making me fatter and fatter.

Its not as good as Grandma's Iraqi style but Hainanese Chicken Rice hits the spot.

Chilli chicken anyone?

In between meals Joelle always seems to find time to sneak in a cheeky Kit Kat...

there is always beer...

2005-07-19T03:23:00.000+01:00

ilovebeer
Originally uploaded by daveysarge.

ok when all else is lost there is always beer.

i might even say that i love beer!

I mean you can get a decent jug of tiger beer (or see the photo for the 3litre version) but nothing quite beats a nice belgian beer.

I dream of the bierodrome. Should be back soon...

so many rules

2005-07-18T08:06:00.000+01:00

hanging out
Originally uploaded by daveysarge.

You are stuck on the other side of the world.
- No waiting.
- No littering.
- No jaywalking.
- No chewing gum.
- No gum to buy anyway - its banned.
- No eating on the subway.
- No smoking in public
- No leaving any food on your plate.
- No taxis between 11 and midnight.
- No having fun?

What can you do?